Students who earn associate degrees from for-profit colleges see substantial earnings returns and, in some cases, outperform their peers who hold two-year degrees from community colleges, according to a new research paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. However, students who drop out of two-year degree tracks at for-profits fare worse in the labor market than do their counterparts at community colleges, found the study, which was authored by Stephanie Riegg Cellini, an assistant professor of public policy at George Washington University, and Latika Chaudhary, an assistant professor of economics at Scripps College.